


Drunken Stars

by hockeyboysandsuch



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 22:03:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14530173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hockeyboysandsuch/pseuds/hockeyboysandsuch
Summary: Ella is hoping to have a fun night out with friends until she bumps into drunk guy, again and again.





	Drunken Stars

Ella hated that song, that one song that always seemed to be playing on the radio, with meaningless lyrics and a nauseating beat. Yet, she always found herself singing along to it. Life is strange, sing along to bad pop songs if you want.  
Her friends were planning on cozy night in. The plan was ice crème and Disney movies until Meg heard that their favourite club In Brooklyn was having a student night. So, they traded their sweatpants and face masks, for tight dresses and martinis. Ella didn’t drink a lot, she was normally the friend who had to be a bit together, to make sure they all didn’t die.  
A guy was dancing a little to close for comfort. Ella danced a bit farther away, but still close to her friends, Meg was laughing at Rosa’s attempt to dab. Flashing lights, some harmless flirting, dancing until her feet hurt, this was how she wanted to spend her nights from that point forward.  
At a certain point it Rose felt like there were too many bodies, the music was too loud, and there wasn’t enough air.  
“I’m going outside!” Ella said.  
“What?” Meg yelled back.  
“I’m going outside!” Ella yelled.  
Meg frowned and shook her head. Rosa was too caught up in whatever dance move she was doing, to pay attention.  
Ella pointed towards the door and mouthed out. Meg nodded and blew a kiss. Bumping her elbow into Rosa’s side she leaned in towards her Rosa ’s ear. Rosa looked up and waved which morphed into a peace sign and evolved to the finger. Ella loved her friends.  
She started to nudge her way through the crowd. Trying to find her way back to the front door. She stepped on someone’s foot.  
“Sorry!” She called, before quickly slipping away. She didn’t want to stick around for the aftermath of that. She was wearing heels, and it might not have been pretty.  
She found the door and nodded to the bouncer. “I’m just gonna get some air, I’ll be back.”  
The bouncer nodded, Ella was amazed at how many tattoos the man had. A snake tattoo covered most of his neck, black tattoos ran up and down his arms. She wondered if he had any more skin to tattoo. Ella had wanted to get a tattoo for ages, but she chickened out at the last minute.  
Ella walked a few steps and leaned against a wall. She took in a breath of fresh air. She knew that Meg and Rosa had posted things on Instagram and snapchat, probably not the most flattering photos of Ella, but at least it looked like she was having fun. Ella had deleted her social media accounts a while back, as part of an experiment for her science class. They wanted to see if it was possible for a young adult to go without social media for a month, her annoying professor was expecting for all of his students to fall, but Ella like proving people wrong. She never did redownload the apps.  
She took another long breath and smiled to herself, things were good. Finally, another song was playing, and she could feel the beat through the wall. She loved how alive New York was, everything and anything could happen. It was a lot different from her sleepy town that only seemed to pick up during tourist season.  
“You stepped on my foot,” A gruff voice said, making her jump. She turned her head and looked eyes at the guy in front of her. Even in the dim light, she could tell he was pretty, and annoyingly so.  
“You followed me out here?” She asked. Ready to start swinging, she knew how these things went down. She doubted that she would win the fight, given that he seemed to be at least six feet tall, and definitely had some impressive muscles. Annoying muscles.  
“You should be more careful.” He pointed down at his feet. He was wearing some fashionable shoe that Ella didn’t know the name of. “These feet are money makers.”  
“Are you a foot model, or something?” Ella said, looking him up and down.  
The boy laughed, his face lighting up. It was hard to see him clearly in the light, but she already loved his smile. “No.” He flipped his hair, in a drunken fashion. “But I could be if I wanted.”  
Ella rolled her eyes, he wasn’t wrong. “Well, aren’t you modest?”  
He shrugged and leaned back against the wall. “Modesty hasn’t given me anything.”  
“Good for you,” Ella mumbled.  
“I don’t downplay anything,” He said.  
Ella nodded, and she was tempted to go back inside. Leave this weird boy and hope he’d find another person to talk too about his feet and lack of modesty.  
“Don’t you want to know what I do?” The boy asked, a perfect eyebrow raised. She wondered if he got them waxed.  
“Nope.” She took a step closer to him, standing on her tiptoes, she stared into his brown eyes. “I don’t care at all about what you do.”  
The boy smirked and leaned his head back against the wall, looking up at the sky. Ella followed his gaze and frowned, she always forgot how hard it was to see the stars in the New York sky. One of the cons to New York living. She looked back down to see the boy staring at her. Ella had a feeling that he didn’t get rejected a lot.  
“Sorry, I’m not here to make friends,” Ella said, shifting from one foot to the other.  
“Who said I wanted to be friends?” The boy asked a smirk on his lips. “I don’t think most people go to clubs to make friends.”  
Ella rolled her eyes, she found him a bit witty, which annoyed her. “Bye.”  
She made her way back to the club and waved to the bouncer. He held a hand in front of her. “Get in line.”  
“I left to get some air, remember me?” Ella asked. She looked the man up and down, he wasn’t the same bouncer this one didn’t have any tattoos at all, and Ella realized she was screwed.  
“Hey, can I get in?” The boy asked.  
The bouncer nodded, and let him in.  
“Oh, come on!” Ella complained, raising her arms. “How come he can get in but not me?”  
The bouncer was about to reply when the boy laughed. “Can she come too? She’s with me.”  
The bouncer seemed to want to say no, but he nodded and let Ella pass. She walked past him, resisting the urge to give him the stink eye.  
“I’m not with you,” Ella said. “But thank you.”  
The boy smiled. “I’m Matthew, but you can call me Mat, but with one t.”  
“Mat with one t?” She asked.  
They were still by the door. They had to lean in closer to hear each other. Ella had to stop herself from staring into his eyes.  
“Yup.”  
“That seems a little pretentious, no?  
Mat grinned. “You’re not very nice, no?”  
She widened her eyes and was about to come up with a scathing comeback, when she realized she wasn’t being very nice. She had stepped on this guys foot, and he still helped her get back into the club. She was being an asshole.  
“I’m original,” Mat said. “One of a kind.” He raised his hands and did finger guns.  
Ella laughed and shook her head. “And a dork.”  
She started to look around the club. She needed to find Rosa and Meg.  
Mat looked at her with puppy eyes. “My foot hurts, and my friends are all the way over there. Can you carry me?  
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ella cackled. “Nope.” She spun on her heels and left him there. She made her way across the dance floor; to where she has last seen her friends.  
They weren’t there, she fumbled through the crowd and check a few other spots. Ella took out her phone and started to text Meg  
Ella. Where are you?  
Meg texted back. where are youuu???????!!!  
Ella I’m here, where are you?  
Meg you didnt go home  
Ella No? I went to get some air  
Meg Sorrrryyyy I looooveeee youuuu.  
Ella Where are you?  
Meg IN THE BEST CITY IN THE WORLD!!!!  
Great. Ella sighed and did a once-over of the club again. They weren’t here. Meg was drunk, and obviously not going to make any sense, Ella tried calling Rosa but she didn’t pick up. Maybe it was time to go home.  
Ella elbowed through the crowd again and left the club. She glared at the bouncer, this time giving him the full stink eye, but froze when she noticed that Mat was standing in the same spot as before, looking miserable.  
He spotted her and waved. “Girl! Who’s name I don’t know! It’s me Mat!”  
She rolled her eyes and tried to walk around him. She didn’t have time for this, she was already thinking about nice bath she’d get when she got home, and the mint chocolate chip ice crème.   
“My friends left me,” Mat sighed.  
“I understand why.” Ella bit her lip, that was meaner than she intended. “Mine did too.”  
“Jerks,” Mat said, shaking his head. He looked up to the sky and shouted. “We’re supposed to be a team!”  
She stared at him, Ella could not figure this boy out.  
“I was hoping you’d come back,” He said. Toying with the bracelet on his wrist.  
Ella didn’t know how to respond to that. She cleared her throat. “Well, I’m going home,” she said.  
Mat’s eyes lit up.  
“That wasn’t an invitation.”  
He giggled. She had to admit it was hilarious, she also realized he was a bit drunker than she thought.  
“So, are you going home or?” Ella asked.  
Mat shrugged. “I’ll see where the city takes me.” He took a step and swayed. Ella grabbed his chest, and Mat gave Ella a cheeky grin.  
“Be careful,” Ella sighed. She let go of him and turned to go, she wasn’t there to take care of him, but she could leave someone like this. “Where do you live?”  
Mat grinned again. “You at least need to take me to dinner first.”  
“Shut up.” Ella tried to hide a laugh.  
“And I should know your name.”  
Ella ignored him and pulled out her phone. “I can call you an uber.”  
“No,” Mat groaned.  
“Are you a lyft person?” She asked.  
Mat shook his head. “I’m starving now, are you hungry? All this talk about dinner is making me hungry.”  
“Nope.”  
“There’s a dinner right around the corner! I’ll pay, you can get whatever you want! Waffles, pancakes.” He stopped and grinned. “Bacon.”  
She was a bit hungry, and he was offering to pay. It’s not like she had any other plans, and she had to admit the guy was interesting. Maybe he’d eat something, sober up, and go home. Ella was a bit terrified she’d wake up the next day, and see his face on the news. A man died in Brooklyn last night, police say he was drunk and got hit by a car, or fell down a sewer drain, or fell off a roof. Surveillance show’s that a woman could have stopped and helped the man, but she walked away like a jerk. Then they’d show a picture of his beautiful face, and then a very unflattering photo of Ella. Ella pushed the thought away.  
“Fine.”  
Mat clapped. “It’s this way.”  
They walked next to each other. She noticed that he was focusing on his steps, a little too intently. He was obviously trying not to stumble.  
Ella sighed and put an arm around him.  
“Are you making moves on me?” He asked.  
“Nope, I don’t want you to faceplant on the sidewalk, mess up that pretty face.”  
She wanted to take it back as soon as she said it. She said he had a pretty face, and she doubted that he would just ignore that.  
“You think I’m pretty?” Mat batted his eyelashes.  
“Maybe.” Ella sighed. “Let’s keep walking.”  
They took two steps, and Ella came to the realization that it wasn’t going to work. He was too tall and heavy to lean on her properly, without squishing her.  
“We could hold hands,” He said.  
Ella rolled her eyes, but he had a point. She could at least try to keep him steady. She grabbed his hand and started walking.  
“Can you walk slower, please?” He begged.  
Ella slowed down.  
“This is nice,” Mat sighed wistfully. “A nice evening stroll through the city.”  
“Oh yeah, I’m holding hands with a drunk guy I don’t know, what a pleasant evening,” Ella snipped.  
Mat laughed. “I’m from Canada, and I play hockey the best sport in the world.” His voice slurred a bit.  
“You seem like a jock.”  
Mat bit his lip, thinking. “I’m new here, but I like the city a lot.”  
“I’m new too,” Ella said.  
“Where are you from?” He asked. He stopped pulling Ella’s hand. “Oh wait, this is it! Starlight dinner!”  
He let go of Ella’s hand and opened the door for her. “Ladies first.”  
Ella grabbed the door. “Maybe the drunk one should go first, also please try not to act super drunk in there. Or they’ll throw us out.”  
Mat nodded and walked in. Ella realized quickly that telling him to not act drunk was the wrong move. He saluted the waiter and tipped an imaginary hat to another person leaving.  
“Two please,” he said, holding up three fingers.  
Ella couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “Good job champ,” she whispered into his ear.  
The waiter led them to a table by a window. Ella looked out and bit her lip. This wasn’t how she thought her night would go. Jazz music played faintly in the background. The smell of bacon and maple syrup, wafting throughout the air. It was a cozy little dinner, a great find. She had a feeling that she’d bring her friends back here someday.  
Mat starred at the menu. “I want to get one of everything.”  
Ella picked up the menu and looked it over. “I’m getting pancakes.”  
“Good choice.”  
“I fucking love pancakes, I’d do anything for pancakes,” Ella laughed.  
“Oh really?”  
“Shut up,” Ella said, glaring at him. Reminding herself to stop saying things like that in front of him.  
A waitress came to take their drink orders. Ella got a coffee and convinced Mat to get one too, to help him sober up.  
“I’ll get you two lovebirds some water as well,” the waitress said as she walked away.  
“Lovebirds,” Ella and Mat said at the same time, both breaking into giggles.  
“Oh my god,” Ella laughed so hard, she thought she might cry. “Why does she even think we’re dating? We could be siblings or something?”  
Mat laughed. “We could be business partners.”  
“What would our business be?” Ella asked.  
“Tiny scarves for dogs, obviously.”  
“We’d try breaking into the dog shoe market, but it’s just not panning out. Tough competition.”  
“It’s a real shame too, cause we’re both so passionate about doggy fashion,” Mat said, with a smirk.  
“Or we could be partners in a crime,” Ella said, raising an eyebrow.  
Mat’s brown eye’s widened. “Yes.”  
The waitress stopped at the table notepad in hand. “And what will it be lovelies?”  
“I’d like a cheese omelette with a side of bacon, a side of French fries, and a side of French toast,” Mat said.  
“Chocolate chip pancakes for me,” Ella requested.  
“No sides?” The waitress asked, a glint in her eye.  
“No thanks,” Ella said.  
“You should order some, cause I’m not sharing,” Mat said.  
The waitress laughed and went to put their orders in.  
Mat locked eyes with Ella. “So, we’re living a life of crime?”  
“And we’re trying to plan out our last big job before we retire,” Ella said. “One last heist.”  
“We’ve spent a long time in the life of crime, and we both wanna go straight,” Mat added.  
Ella nodded. “We meet here every Saturday one am, to plan it out. We have to go to a neutral location, we’ve both been burned before.”  
“Not a lotta trust in the world of crime,” Mat said, nodding.  
“We’re building a team, but who can we trust?”  
“Not our friends that’s for sure,” Mat said, bitterly.  
Ella laughed. He wasn’t wrong. She would need to check in on Meg and Rosa soon.  
Mat leaned in and whispered. “But what are we stealing?”  
Ella took a sip of her coffee and said in a very jersey accent. “That’s the thing Mat, I’m not sure if I can trust you.”  
Mat gasped. “You can trust me!”  
Ella shook her head. “You don’t get to know what we’re stealing until the day of the heist, so it’s harder to leak information.”  
Mat frowned. “I wouldn’t tell I promise. I thought we were partners in crime!”  
“Well, you thought wrong kid. I’m running the show.”  
The waitress walked over and put the plate of pancakes in front of Ella. Ella leaned back into her seat and looked down at her hands. What the hell was that? She wondered. It was weird is what it was, most of the time people didn’t support her silliness. They usually cut her off and started talking about something else. Ella took a sip of her coffee, he’s drunk, that’s why he’s playing along.  
“You two are so cute,” The waitress said, as she put the last plate on the table.  
“Thanks,” Mat said. “We’ve been partners for a while now.” He winked at Ella.  
“Yeah, but we’re thinking of going our separate ways,” Ella said, trying to hold back her giggles.  
The waitress placed her hands on her hips. “You two got something kids, you gotta hold onto that. Whatever is going on, you two can work it out.”  
She walked away to help another customer, but not before taking another look back and wagging her finger at them.  
Ella and Mat didn’t look at each other, and neither of them started eating. Ella could feel the awkwardness sinking in.  
“Okay, the plan was to steal the declaration of independence,” Ella said, quietly. “I don’t know if you know what that is, being Canadian and all.”  
“I know what it is.” Mat grinned. “Why that?”  
Ella shrugged. “It would be cool.”  
Mat laughed. “Stealing the declaration of independence for out last heist? That’s it? Not money, or paintings, or diamonds?”  
“I was going to alter it and change the gun amendment, to something that makes more sense for our current times,” Ella said.  
“Very noble of you.”  
Ella took a sip of her water. "The real con is putting it back.”  
“Won’t people realize that it’s changed?” Mat asked.  
“I’m hoping that it would be like that bearstein bears thing? Have you heard of that?” Ella asked.  
Mat nodded. “Yes, and it fucks me up.”  
“That’s what I’m going for.” Ella took a bite of her pancake. “And of course, we’d need a decoy declaration of independence. Do you know a guy? Mines in jail right now.”  
Mat dropped his head on the table, giggling. Ella moved a few plates out of the way. He almost got maple syrup in his hair.  
“Your fun,” He said, a bit breathless.  
Ella smiled. “I try.”  
“No, like really fun. I’m glad that you stepped on my foot.”  
Ella bit her lip. She didn’t expect him to say something like that, not at all. “Is your foot okay?” Ella asked.  
Mat shrugged. “It’s fine.”  
Another awkward silence seemed to fall over them. Ella racked her brain trying to find things to talk about. She didn’t know anything about hockey, or a lot about Canada, just that they had good health care and maple syrup.  
“So, where are you from?” Mat asked, in between bites of bacon.  
“Cape May,” Ella replied.  
Mat thought for a second. “That’s in New Jersey, right?”  
“Yeah, it’s a beach town.”  
“Why are you in New York?”  
“School, and I just stayed.”  
“Columbia? NYU?”  
“NYU. Now I should get to ask a few questions,” Ella said, she took a sip of water, taking her time to figure out what she was going to ask.  
Mat held up his hands. “I’m an open book.”  
“First one then, can you read?” Ella asked. “I know you’re a jock.”  
“Yes, I can read! I read the menu!” Mat said, mildly offended. “Do jocks not read here?”  
Ella shrugged. “Are you in school then?”  
Mat grinned and shook his head. “Nah.”  
“How old are you even?” Ella had thought he was around twenty-one, maybe twenty-two at most.  
“Twenty.”  
“Twenty?” She gasped. “You’re not legal, how’d you get into that club even?”  
He shrugged. “I have my ways. How old are you?”  
“Twenty-one, actually legal to drink alcohol in the united states.”  
“It’s nineteen in Canada.”  
“Cool, but we’re not in Canada.”  
He grinned and took a bite of his French toast. “Who knew you were the fun police?”  
Ella frowned and took a bite of her pancakes  
Somehow Mat ate all the food he ordered, and he was true to his word, he didn’t share. The waitress brought over the bill, and Mat paid.  
Before Ella could leave, a hand touched her arm. “You’ve got something there, I know it,” the waitress winked, and shuffled away.  
Ella just stared at her. Did this lady think it was her job to play cupid?  
The night was slowing down, there were fewer people on the streets. Ella stretched and yawned.  
“I’m super tired,” Ella said, yawning again.  
“And I’m gonna throw up,” Mat said, keeling over.  
“What?” Ella asked.  
“Fuck.”  
Mat threw up, Ella realized his hair was long enough to get dirty, she tried her best to hold it back. He coughed a bit and stood back up.  
“Sorry,” Mat groaned. “I’m not usually like this.”  
“Are you okay now?” Ella asked, as she fished out a box of mints and poured some into his hand.  
“Thanks.” Mat said. “For the whole night.”  
“I think you should go home,” Ella said.  
“Or maybe,” Mat started.  
“Nope,” Ella said, cutting him off. “The night ends here.”  
Mat nodded.  
“Do you want me to call an uber?” Ella asked.  
Mat shook his head. “I can call my own.” He took out his phone.  
“Okay,” Ella said, but she didn’t want to leave him alone until the car showed up.  
“I feel like I should go in and apologize for throwing up outside of there dinner,” Mat said. His voice sounding hoarse.  
“I’m sure it happens all the time,” Ella suggested.  
They stood under the street light, not sure what quite to say. The strangeness of the night was just settling in, the magical felt like it was draining away. Ella thought about asking for his number, but she stopped herself. If he wanted it, he’d ask.  
“I’m never drinking again,” Mat groaned, he closed his eyes, and leaned against the lamppost.  
“Sure,” Ella smirked.  
His uber drove up, Mat took a step towards it. “Wait, how are you getting home?”  
“Walking, I don’t live to far from here,” Ella said, she nodded in the direction of her apartment.  
Mat nodded and opened the car door. He saluted and said. “I’d be honoured to steal the declaration of independence with you.”  
“Thanks, but now the uber driver knows.”  
“I do not care!” The uber driver shouted out. “I’ve heard much stranger things, and Mama didn’t raise a snitch.”  
Ella and Mat both broke out into laughter. Mat took a few steps forward and hugged her. Ella hugged him back. He smelled like vomit, but Ella didn’t mind. They both let go, Mat waved and got into the car.  
Ella watched as they drove off. She walked home listening to the sounds of a city that was always awake, the distant music, the blaring car horns, the stray pieces of a conversation of people who walked by.  
She focused on these things, like the cracks in the sidewalk, the weeds that grew in them, the street art, the laughter that echoed. Because she didn’t want to think about how she didn’t get his number. She didn’t even tell him her name. How the odds of seeing him again would be zero to none. Maybe she could go to that club again, maybe she could catch his eye. Maybe, they would have the same connection. Ella shook her head, now she was sounding like the waitress, and cupid in training.  
The whole night didn’t feel very real at all.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first time posting here, so please be nice.  
> Thanks for reading!  
> I was thinking about writing more of this, would anyone want it?


End file.
